05/23/2016

Science made Easy Science Shepherd {Review}

Science Made Easy ~ Science Shepherd Review

Although when we first started our homeschooling journey, we did all of our classes at home, for the last few years we’ve done science as part of a group with other homeschool parents. My son does a science curriculum with our homeschool co-op, however, this year we decided to not sign my daughter up for one because she was interested in another class which was meeting at the same time. So, I’m extremely grateful to be able to review a science curriculum that provides an overview of a variety of sciences for my soon to be fourth grader. My daughter begs to do science every day because she loves the Introductory Science program from Science Shepherd.

Science Shepherd Introductory Science is a 35-week video course (available for a 12 month period after purchase) with videos which are presented directly to the student. There are additional books which can be purchased to be used with this course. There is an answer key and a spiral bound consumable student workbook which can be used to help reinforce the videos. Introductory Science is divided up into two levels: Level A and B. We were sent a copy of the Level B student book, the answer key and access to the videos. Level B is geared toward kids from 9-11 years old, whereas Level A is for 6-8-year-olds. My daughter just turned 9 and Level B seems to be a good fit.

We decided to incorporate this curriculum into our afternoons. My daughter works on this program independently. She watched the video that went with each day and then looks over the workbook, and answers the questions. When she is done, she brings it to me to check.

The Introductory Science curriculum covers a little bit of a lot of subjects. The first three weeks are an overview of creation and general science skills and tools. The remaining weeks gov over specific types of science studies such as meteorology, geology, oceanography, life science, Earth Science, the human body, ecology and physical science.

This is a Young Earth Creation curriculum, which fits exactly into our worldview and how we’ve chosen to teach our children. Keep this in mind when ordering, if your views differ from this philosophy. However, because we do align with this, we’ve been happy with this curriculum.

This program is intended to be used 5 days a week for a period of 35 weeks. The videos are short for each day – approximately 2 minutes each. The workbook is divided up into days, as are videos, so it is easy to keep your place and to know how much to do each day. For instance, the work book is labeled: Week 2: Day 2, Week 2: Day 3, Week 2: Day 4, Week 2: Day 5. I think this feature makes it is especially doable for my daughter to keep track of what work to do each day. There isn’t a lot of work expected in the workbook – there is approximately one page of questions (4-6 questions on a page) for each video watched. There is an activity listed each day, as well, which are laid out nicely and well marked with what extras are needed to create the project. For instance, one of the activities listed in Week 2 can be made using 6 pieces of white paper, crayons, colored pencils, and tape. They ask the student to draw and color everything God made on each of the days of creation (one picture per day of creation). These are fun and simple projects that children can complete on their own.

I will admit that at first glance I thought this would be too easy, but I’ve been pleasantly surprised by how well my daughter has taken to this curriculum. She has never been a “science kid” like her older brother and has struggled to find any interest in the subject. I think this program meets her on her level and has delivered to her just what she needs, with a biblical worldview. She has really grown in her understanding of many different scientific concepts and I’ve been so happy about her enthusiasm for completing her Science Shepherd. She daily asks when it’s time for her to do this! We will be continuing on with this curriculum.

To connect with Science Shepherd online:

Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/ScienceShepherd/
Twitter – https://twitter.com/scienceshepherd
Pinterest – https://www.pinterest.com/scienceshepherd

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05/18/2016

Memoria Press Astronomy {Review}

I’m so excited for today’s review. Memoria Press is one of my most favorite vendors so I was thrilled that my son and daughter wanted to use The Book of Astronomy Set.

I received both a student book and teacher guide for the Book of Astronomy, which is geared for third grade on up. I ended up purchasing an extra student book so that both my son and daughter could participate in this study.

The curriculum is broken up into 4 units. Each unit has multiple lessons and then a final exercise at the end of the Unit. This is an in-depth study of the constellations, the names of the stars, with the information given on the magnitude of the stars, when certain stars and constellations are visible in the night sky, the zodiac, and the solar system. This program includes some memorization of the names of stars and constellations. There is plenty of practice involving drawing the many constellations and labeling them with the correct stars.

The Book of Astronomy starts off by asking the students to begin to memorize the 15 brightest stars. They break it down into 5 per week for the first three weeks of the course. As we don’t memorize a lot in our homeschool, I didn’t know what to expect. Although I was unsure how they would do, my kids have been enjoying this exercise.

I noticed a few times that among the stories of the constellations there is mention of the Ancient Greek mythology which can be found in another part of the Memoria Press curriculum, D’Aulaires’ Greek Myths. We did not use this curriculum and I felt that this astronomy book stands on its own – even if your child has no prior knowledge of the myths themselves. My kids only know a little about ancient history and the belief in many gods but they are unfamiliar with the many stories, however, I felt they were able to grasp what was being taught in the units of this book. I think if you did choose to use it alongside this curriculum, it could only strengthen your children’s understanding of the subject matter.

I found this Memoria Press Astronomy curriculum to be easy to integrate into our homeschool. It made for very pleasant afternoons. I love the curriculum that isn’t stressful, and I can honestly say that this did not cause issues as we did it. I used the teacher guide extensively and my kids followed along in their own student books. If you do use this curriculum, I definitely suggest getting the teacher manual. It is very helpful and is a replica of the student books but it also has all the answers printed out in it. I’m able to read from it to the kids and then assign them their work (which is always on that page or the next).

My children are entering 4th and 6th grade and both have thoroughly enjoyed this curriculum. My science-loving son has been very interested in this as he loves astronomy in general (although we’ve only touched on the constellations a very small amount before using this curriculum). My daughter also has enjoyed this text because it is very straightforward, easy to understand with very clear expectations. I like how each lesson builds on the last and none of it feels too overwhelming even though it is pushing my kids outside what they have learned about astronomy in the past. I definitely recommend this curriculum for anyone wanting to teach astronomy to their kids!

Logic, Greek Myths and Astronomy Memoria Press Review

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05/16/2016

Poetry Memorization IEW {Review}

I’m so excited to share our newest review. I grew up in a household that quoted Dickinson and Frost but I’ve had the hardest time getting my children (especially my sons) to love poetry. I love writing and love poetry and have been wanting my kids to share my feelings for it. On that note, I should mention that we also love Institute for Excellence in Writing so I was delighted for the opportunity to add Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization to our daily schedule.

What’s included?

Linguistic Development through Poetry Memorization includes a case of 5 CDs, 7 MP3s, a DVD featuring Andrew Pudewa, an e-book student book and a spiral bound teacher book. We were also provided with the spiral bound Student Book which is available to be purchased for an additional charge.

DVD

The DVD is simply amazing. I was inspired by watching and listening to Andrew Pudewa, the director of IEW and the creator of the Poetry Memorization program. He talks about the state of language in children in our country. He goes over how children develop their language and vocabulary – delving into some common myths that most of us believe about how to help our children understand and use a higher level of language. He covers silent reading, reading aloud, television, peers, and memorization. He talks about how memorization actually makes us smarter because of how it affects our brain. He reminds us that no matter how intelligent we are if we haven’t been exposed to great works of literature and language, we can’t pull out what isn’t there. He also talks about how, inorder for most boys to want to memorize poetry, they need something to grab their attention and imagination. He mentions how he has realized that poems with crazy action and ideas which also contain humor in it usually gets boys interested. The whole DVD is a wonderful talk and very informative.

Teacher Book and Student Book

The teacher book and the student books are very similar in their content. The major difference is that the teacher book has a different layout and contains some extra information for most of the poems that you might choose to teach to the kids.

The student book is written to the student with bigger font and cute pictures on each page. It also contains one poem per page, making it easier for kids to read and learn from (without distractions) whereas the teacher book has several poems listed.

Besides extra info on places and setting, the teacher edition also contains highlighted vocabulary words and definitions. The Appendix in the back of the teacher book is a wealth of information. In Appendix 1 all the biographies for every author featured in the book are written.

In another section of the Appendix, there are a list of lesson enhancements. These are extra things you can include in the study for each poem. Depending on the poetry, you might be able to add in some science, writing, vocabulary, extra literature, science, music, social studies, and even math. These are all optional and it might be fun to add to the poems that your children are enjoying.

CDs

The CDs that came with this curriculum contain Andrew Pudewa reading the poems directly to the students. This helps them remember the poems and helps them learn the new one.

MP3s

The purchase of the teacher book also comes with 7 free audio MP3s. The webpage and login details are available inside the teacher book. These MP3s include:

Nurturing Competent Communicators
Master Learning, Ability Development and Individualized Education
Ten Thousand Times and Then Begins Understanding
On Listening
On Speaking
On Reading
On Writing

How did we use it?

We started off by gathering all of the kids in the living room and I read the first poem to them. The kids (ages 4-13) loved the poem because it was silly and rhyming and kind of takes a strange turn at the end. I was shocked at how once we were done reciting it for the day, my children decided to act out the poem while reciting it over and over again. My 11-year-old son took the lead and created a little play revolving around the poem with the 4, 5, and 9-year-old. I was blown away by the joy they expressed at learning the first poem. Trust me, I didn’t expect this – especially in association with them memorizing anything.

We don’t typically use the classical model of education so at most, my kids memorize short Bible verses but I don’t typically drill memorization with them. I wasn’t expecting them to fall in love with this curriculum. However, they did.

After we said the poem the first day, the next day we would listen to it on the CD (read by Andrew Pudewa). I hoped that it would refresh their brain over breakfast. After about 4 days all of the kids had it completely memorized so we moved on to poem two and they quickly learned that one as well as reviewed the first. As we moved on one by one, they were memorizing them (even my little ones were able to say most of the poems precisely). We got to the fifth poem which is exceptionally long compared with the first four and all the kids groaned that they wouldn’t be able to do it. So, I suggested that we go stanza by stanza and just take it a small bite at a time. By the end of our session that morning we had 3/4 of it memorized. I couldn’t believe it and either could they!

Each time they memorize a poem, I have them review the other poems they have memorized. Each morning we listen to the CD review all the poems and then move on to the next one. Sometimes I let Andrew Pudewa read the poem to us first, and sometimes I read it first.

What did we think?

I LOVE this curriculum. I passionately love this. We will continue to use this. Why? There are so many reasons why we will continue but the shortest answers are these: my kids love it and I love it. It is fun for them and I know it is also good for them. I will be honest and tell you that my 13-year-old, who has autism, has struggled more than my other kids, but language is not his strong point. He still participates, it just takes him a little longer to memorize the poems. My four year old has been able to memorize some of it but not all, however, she has a small speech delay, so I am delighted she has done any of it with us. My other three kids have been able to memorize them all. I’m most impressed with my 11-year-old son, who, because of dyslexia, struggles with reading, writing and spelling. His self-confidence has grown as he has memorized these poems and kind of led the others in this endeavor. I can tell that the poems contained in this book were well thought out and chosen with care. All of my children have had so much fun and it has only grown their love of poetry. I’m completely impressed with this program and cannot wait to keep using this in our homeschool.

Here are my younger two kids memorizing the first poem:

To connect with IEW online please see below:

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/excellenceinwriting

Twitter: https://twitter.com/iew

Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com/iewriting

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/user/iewtv

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05/14/2016

50 Scrumptious Breakfast Muffin Recipes

Breakfast Muffin Recipes

Anyone who knows me knows how much I LOVE muffins. They are my favorite treat for breakfast … or for a snack … or even for dessert. I LOVE muffins. Some of my favorites? Apple, carrot cake, cream cheese, pumpkin … So, I decided to share with you some of the best breakfast muffins recipes out there on the internet. Here are 50 Scrumptious Breakfast Muffin Recipes (but feel free to have them for dessert, as well). Enjoy!